Eden Prairie MN Menards closing

[Mattlt]

OK, only for a year, while they build a new Mega-Store on the same site.

The reason for posting this is that I noticed they are already selling some of their store fixtures (checkout counters, wooden sales desks, etc) Many had a $10 price tag on them, but you can't pick them up until February. (Sounds like a typical Menards deal, where they get your money 2 months before you get the goods!)

Anyway, check it out if you're in the SW Mpls suburbs and you need some garage stuff. I'm sure there will be more stuff as the closing date approaches.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Thanks for the heads up. I may have to head out there and see what they have (as if I need more junk in the garage.)

 

[Gary S]

Ouch. That would hurt to lose Menards for year. Here we got the mega-store a couple of years ago, but their old site was too small so they built the big store on a new site and the old one stayed open during construction, so we didn't lose a day.

 

[CraigFL]

It's been 25 years since I've been to that store when I lived in Fairmont!

 

[tonydanzah]

what makes it a megastore?

 

[Cabby89]

Have a small grocery section among a few other different sections. Its also larger than the previous stores

 

[Stuart in MN]

Ouch. That would hurt to lose Menards for year. Here we got the mega-store a couple of years ago, but their old site was too small so they built the big store on a new site and the old one stayed open during construction, so we didn't lose a day.

There are plenty of Menards in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, so it probably won't be a big deal - customers will just have to drive a few more miles to get to the next closest store.

 

[jmack]

Is a Menards like a wal-mart? Never heard of them on the east coast here

 

[NUTTSGT]

They are a DIY center like Lowes or HD. They also have stuff like oil/filter for your car, candy/snack food. Probably a better selection of home cleaning supplies than the other DIY centers.

 

[Mattlt]

Is a Menards like a wal-mart? Never heard of them on the east coast here

You might say the Wal Mart of the lumber business! They carry what a Lowes and Home Depot carry. Generally a little lower on the price/quality scale, however.

They started in Wisconsin; mainly a midwest phenomenon.

 

[E.rodz]

you know the thing that blows the most if your anything like me I live 1 block from a menards and they did the same to that one I knew were everything in the store was better than anyone who worked there. I'ts been a year and 1/2 and I still have not figured out there organizing system.

 

[Tman]

I used to shop at one of the oldest ones. On 65 in Fridley. Went back a couple years ago and man was that a small antiquated store in comparison!

 

[D KRAGER]

I don't like the new mega stores. We have one old and a mega on the other side of town.


Dislike mega store for:

Anything in the lumber yard. Most large items are in the lumber yard in the old store. The mega store you have to carry half of it out the front. PIA!!!!!

The mega store does have appliances and more organized selection of hardware, tools ect. but I still like the full sized lumber yard at the old facility.

 

[kindyr]

Krager are you in Springfield?

if not, we have the same situation going on here. i tend to go to the mega, because of geographic proximity. and the old one has more congested traffic getting to it.

what I like Menards for is they sell the modular Gorrilla rack. basically Pallet racks for home owners. I have goo percentage of my garage done up using it. very strong, and sturdy. and it doesn't require shelves at the groun level so i can slide my table saw under it.

 

[diggertodd]

Hey, another Springfieldian here (well, close... Athens) I have been disappointed in the varied items I have returned to "El Menardos" in recent times. Light fixtures, hardware and even about 10 of 30 iron pipe fittings that were mis-threaded.

Please, I'm not bashing, I'm sure every retailer is victim to substandard products for the cheapest bottom line pricing but if the Sunday sale paper has that awesome deal, I've been regretting the purchase lately.

 

[D KRAGER]

Krager are you in Springfield?

if not, we have the same situation going on here. i tend to go to the mega, because of geographic proximity. and the old one has more congested traffic getting to it.

what I like Menards for is they sell the modular Gorrilla rack. basically Pallet racks for home owners. I have goo percentage of my garage done up using it. very strong, and sturdy. and it doesn't require shelves at the groun level so i can slide my table saw under it.

Yep in Springfield, well south Girard to be exact.

 

[Tom Fuehrer]

OK, only for a year, while they build a new Mega-Store on the same site.

QUOTE]

Dang, a whole year without my local Menards.

This would be a great time for the Fleet Farm to be built in Carver.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Tom

 

[Joe B.]

When Menard's puts things on sale they are the cheapest price available. They do this to convince everyone that they have great prices. However, their every day prices then to be higher then HD or Lowe's around here. I go to Menard's but only for stuff on sale.

 

[Gary S]

Is a Menards like a wal-mart? Never heard of them on the east coast here

Menards is what Lowes might be someday when it matures a little. Menards is a full service lumber yard. Lowes is more of a home decorating center. Then, there is Home Depot. Home Depot doesn't even qualify as a home decorating center.
Home Depot built a store here a few years ago. They thought they could send up workers here that couldn't speak English. The store lasted about 3 years and folded because nobody went back a second time.
I built my entire garage with materials from Menards except for the concrete. Lowes couldn't do that, and Home Depot probably couldn't have found me a saw blade or a drill bit to start the first day. I don't know if Home Depot's nails work with an English speaking hammer.
If you are a serious do-it-yourselfer and don't have a Menards, you are missing a lot.

 

[jvitez]

We have 4 Home Depots here, 3 Rona (used to be Revy) which is Quebec based, more like a lower quality Lowes, and several McDiarmid Lumber (local older style lumber yard) but my father-in-law still drives to Grand Forks ND because of the Menards. Now he's got me doing it too. Great store, great selection compared to here. But generally, we Canucks find selection to be the biggest difference in US vs Canadian retailing. A 95 cent Canadian dollar doesn't hurt either.

 

[HIRISC]

OK, only for a year, while they build a new Mega-Store on the same site.

QUOTE]

Dang, a whole year without my local Menards.

This would be a great time for the Fleet Farm to be built in Carver.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Tom

Doesn't Carver need a (downtown) stoplight first?

 

[jmack]

Menards is what Lowes might be someday when it matures a little. Menards is a full service lumber yard. Lowes is more of a home decorating center. Then, there is Home Depot. Home Depot doesn't even qualify as a home decorating center.
Home Depot built a store here a few years ago. They thought they could send up workers here that couldn't speak English. The store lasted about 3 years and folded because nobody went back a second time.
I built my entire garage with materials from Menards except for the concrete. Lowes couldn't do that, and Home Depot probably couldn't have found me a saw blade or a drill bit to start the first day. I don't know if Home Depot's nails work with an English speaking hammer.
If you are a serious do-it-yourselfer and don't have a Menards, you are missing a lot.

That's odd. I've never had a problem finding what I need at either Home Depot or Lowes. I usually just go to whichever is closer.

The real home decorating center was EXPO (owned by home depot). We used to have one of those by me and it was awesome. But in the bad economy, I guess people stopped buying the high-end stuff and they shut down the whole chain.

Competition is always a good thing, so hopefully if this Menards place is a good store they may become something larger than just a regional chain one day. Would love to see one.

 

[Mattlt]

Doesn't Carver need a (downtown) stoplight first?

I've been hearing rumors of a SW suburb Fleet Farm for the last 15 years!

Now it finally sounds like it's going to be a reality. Hopefully before I retire. Mills FF has apparently bought land near 212 and CR 140. Mills bought some land and Wal-Mart bought some next to it as well. They are both going to be built near the new water tower that went up in that area.

The funny thing is, my aunt and uncle owned one of the farms in this area about 30 years ago. Of course, hindsight is ALWAYS 20-20!

 

[kartracer23]

Competition is always a good thing, so hopefully if this Menards place is a good store they may become something larger than just a regional chain one day. Would love to see one.

I love Menards - partially because the owner is a big supporter of racing (his son races Nationwide).

Menards has 250 + stores, so although it might be 'regional', it's a pretty big company. I think that makes it about 1/5 the size of Lowes or HD.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Yeah, John Menard does OK with his regional chain. They were pretty successful in Indy Car before they moved to NASCAR.

 

[jmack]

I love Menards - partially because the owner is a big supporter of racing (his son races Nationwide).

Menards has 250 + stores, so although it might be 'regional', it's a pretty big company. I think that makes it about 1/5 the size of Lowes or HD.

Actually Home Depot has about 2,200 stores. Lowes is 1,600. So menards has a long way to go to get to 1/5 the footprint of either.

 

[BTG]

OK, only for a year, while they build a new Mega-Store on the same site.

The reason for posting this is that I noticed they are already selling some of their store fixtures (checkout counters, wooden sales desks, etc) Many had a $10 price tag on them, but you can't pick them up until February. (Sounds like a typical Menards deal, where they get your money 2 months before you get the goods!)

Anyway, check it out if you're in the SW Mpls suburbs and you need some garage stuff. I'm sure there will be more stuff as the closing date approaches.

Is that the one with all the goofy level changes with ramps, steps, etc? If so good riddance! I've bought stuff from that Menards when I was doing some reno work on my Grandparents house on Lake Minnetonka. Hopefully some guys here will benefit from that mess getting torn down. I do like Menards here in the Indy area and tend to buy from them over Lowes and Home Depot. No goofy levels here!!

 

[Stuart in MN]

Is that the one with all the goofy level changes with ramps, steps, etc?

That sounds like the one in St. Louis Park on Highway 12/ I-394. That building has evolved so much over the years (I think it was originally a car dealership, then there were several different stores in the same building, then Menards took over the whole thing) and there are ramps and stairs all over the place.

 

[Tman]

Out here Menards tends to have the best prices. Lowes has some stuff you can't find at Menards and some of their lumber is actually cheaper. I keep a contractor account at a local yard for the big buys, have my salesman just order it in.

 

[markzrt1]

Found an interesting article about Menards:

http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=7726

 

[Tman]

Found an interesting article about Menards:

http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=7726

Looks like some fairly biased journalism without citing proper sources. Typical left, "ooo, the rich are so EVIL!"

 

[jmh21586]

I used to shop at one of the oldest ones. On 65 in Fridley. Went back a couple years ago and man was that a small antiquated store in comparison!

Didn't that one start out as a Knox Lumber?? Remember them?? Was one on 694 and 81 I believe. Brooklyn Park.

 

[jmh21586]

Menards carries a lot of **** though too. They got rid of Makita and DeWalt and now sell some weekend warrior **** for power tools. They do still carry Bosch but IMO, only some of their tools are any good. Otherwise they're pretty much a step above Wal Mart or Kmart when it comes to hand tools. But... even Kmart carries Craftsman.

But the worst thing about Menards is their lumber. Good for firewood but not much more. What a bunch of twisted, warped, low grade ****. And that's why it's cheaper.

 

[Gary S]

But the worst thing about Menards is their lumber. Good for firewood but not much more. What a bunch of twisted, warped, low grade ****. And that's why it's cheaper.

I built two garages out of lumber from Menards already. I'm 100% happy with it. How many buildings have you built with lumber from Menards?

 

[PoPo]

this gets me excited as our menards is for sale and they are building a MEGA store about 5 blocks away. I'll be there to get my stuff when they mark it!!

 

[jmh21586]

I built two garages out of lumber from Menards already. I'm 100% happy with it. How many buildings have you built with lumber from Menards?

Why would I build any buildings out of their lumber when I think it's ****?


You go there and ya can't find a piece of straight lumber anywhere. Their plywood is lesser ply then most lumber yards carry. Their trim is a bunch off crooked sh!t. It's just all around lower grade stuff. And thats why it's cheaper than traditional lumber yards, and also why Menards continues to have a hard time competing with traditional lumber yards for the business of housing contractors.

I did, however, buy some BC plywood from them for my shop walls that wasn't too bad.


But I'm happy for you if you've been satisfied. Really, I am.

 

[VHF]

Twice this year Menards has but out a sales flyer with 100% American-made products. It was nice to see that there is a still a variety of products manufactured here and that a growing chain like Menards cares about having US-made products when possible.

You do have to be picky when buying lumber at Menards. Last time I bought a 4x8 sheet of plywood I had to move 10 sheets off the top of the stack to find one I considered acceptable.

 

[jmh21586]

Twice this year Menards has but out a sales flyer with 100% American-made products. It was nice to see that there is a still a variety of products manufactured here and that a growing chain like Menards cares about having US-made products when possible.
.

Are their Master Force or whatever they're called, hand tools made in the USA? Haven't really looked at them yet. I know they carry a lot of Tool Shop stuff that I wouldn't consider very high quality.

IMO, Home Depot carries more quality merchandise in just about every department. But Menards does have a wider array of things that they sell.

About the only place I can think of where I can buy a sheet of plwood, a mattress, gallon of milk, can of beef stew, DVD player...............and a kitchen sink.

 

[epmills]

They just renovated that store 5? or so years ago didn't they? Maybe its been longer, I can't remember. But anyway, I miss Menards here in St. Louis, I hope they put a store by me in the near future. Gotta love the free after rebate stuff they have, you can never have enough utility knives!

 

[Gary S]

Are their Master Force or whatever they're called, hand tools made in the USA? Haven't really looked at them yet. I know they carry a lot of Tool Shop stuff that I wouldn't consider very high quality.
.

I don't know about MasterForce. I haven't bought any of it. Tool Shop is 100% Chinese from what I've seen, but the past few months Menards has had some great sales on Irwin and Channel Lock tools. I bought a set of 3 Channel Lock pliers for $25, and they are made right here in the US. and they fit nicely in my tool box.